Two organisations charged with corporate manslaughter following fatal boating incident
A care home and a charitable trust have been charged with corporate manslaughter in connection with a fatal boating incident at Roadford Lake near Okehampton.
Emergency services were called on 8 June 2022 after a Wheelyboat capsized on the lake resulting in six people entering the water.
The boat was carrying a group on a day trip from Burdon Grange Care Home in Beaworthy.
Wheelchair users Alex Wood, 43, and Alison ‘Ali’ Tilsley, 63, both from West Devon, died. A woman in her 50s was seriously injured.
Burdon Grange Care Home and South West Lakes Trust, based in Bude, have each been charged by postal requisition with corporate manslaughter and an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
The care home has been charged with an offence under Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act, relating to an alleged failure to ensure, as far as was reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of its employees.
The Trust has been charged with an offence under Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act, relating to an alleged failure to conduct its undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, that persons not in its employment were not exposed to risks to their health or safety.
The first court hearing will take place at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 11 November.
The charges follow a lengthy and complex investigation led by Devon and Cornwall Police alongside the Health and Safety Executive and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.